A Historic Day Leaves Women Behind

On March 23rd, President Obama finally signed the Health Care Reform Bill into Law. It was a historic and powerful moment - but we are all reminded that the struggle is not over. I want to focus on a side of Health Care Reform that seems to be shunned from the news networks. Abortion. Abortion, Religion and Politics.

Please, allow me to introduce you to Bart Stupak. Stupak represents Michigan's First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been a very vocal and very active anti-abortion, pro-life politician, and has held onto a lot of support because of his firm stand on abortion. One of the challenges of being a college-student activist is staying informed, while also balancing course work, extra-curricular groups and campus activism. So, I was surprised, when I learned (for the first time - - gah!) that Stupak is actually a Democrat.

Stupak has been there in the planning and building of this bill since the very beginning. In 2009, Stupak wrote, "I was also concerned that the bill opened the door for public funding to pay for abortion."

I feel Stupak's provisional information on his influence on the Health Care Bill says it all:
"By working with my Pro-Life colleagues and with Speaker Pelosi, I was able to secure an up or down vote on my amendment with regards to federal funding of abortion. My amendment does one very simple thing: It applies current law (the Hyde Amendment), which bars federal funding for abortion except in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother, to the health care reform bill. ...


My amendment has no impact on those individuals with private insurance who do not receive affordability credits and in no way prohibits any individual from purchasing a supplemental abortion coverage policy. Health insurance companies can still offer policies that cover abortion; insurance companies just can’t sell those policies to individuals using affordability credits to pay for the policy. My amendment was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 240 to 194 on November 7, 2009 and was included in H.R. 3962. Without the votes of 41 Democratic Pro-Life supporters of my amendment, health care reform never would have passed the U.S. House of Representatives."

It's important to understand that Stupak is no longer a popular man with the rest of his pro-life cronies, since approving of and voting for the bill. He's being called a traitor. At first I thought it was hysterical - after all he was responsible for these limitations placed on women seeking abortions with either low funding or an insurance policy that didn't cover (or partially cover) the procedure. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops writes on their website "Most American women and men don’t want abortion in their health coverage, and don’t want the government funding or promoting abortion." (according to whom, I wonder?) Although the Catholic Bishops are not representative of all Pro-life Americans, I believe it is fair to surmise that generally Pro-lifers not only want Health Care Reform to abstain from funding abortions all-together, but also to take a firm stance against abortion and a woman's right to chose.

The Health Care Bill as it has been signed into law "says individuals who receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance may purchase abortion coverage, but must do so by writing a separate check from personal funds." (Espo)
 
So... as a young woman, how do I feel about the Health Care Bill and it's stance on abortion? I believe that a man or a woman may have personal feelings against ending life. I can understand that. Let me ask... do these same men and women allow those feelings to pertain to war efforts? What about defensive action? How do these same men and women feel about the right to bear arms?
 
If I became pregnant - would I chose to have an abortion? I can't honestly say I know the answer to that. I can say that as a woman, as an individual, as a citizen of this country, I want the right to make that choice for myself, and I want the support that I deserve to make that choice from my government. Women who chose to have abortions do not make the choice lightly or painlessly and we are not irresponsible flighty creatures, incapable of choosing our own lives. Any legislation that impedes a woman's rights or options for receiving health care in any capacity - whether it's birth control, STI screening, family planning or abortions-- is not only "bad" legislation, but against the constitution and enforces the patriarchal society that tells women they are second class citizens and must be put in their place. To quote the suffragist movement heroine Alice Paul, "How long must women wait for liberty?"